Los Angeles @ Milwaukee preview
American Family Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 24, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 5, Milwaukee 3
The Los Angeles Dodgers helped make Randy Wolf a very rich man.
Wolf will get a chance to show the Dodgers exactly what they’ve been missing all season when he takes the mound for the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday.
Wolf signed a one-year, $5 million deal with Los Angeles prior to the 2009 season and was a big reason the club advanced to the playoffs last season, posting an 11-7 record with a 3.23 ERA.
He was at his best down the stretch, allowing three runs or less in each of his last 10 starts to help the Dodgers edge the Colorado Rockies by three games for the National League West Division crown.
Wolf made two solid starts in the playoffs as well before Los Angeles fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series.
Clearly due for a raise after that performance, the Dodgers balked at Wolf’s asking price, instead letting him walk in free agency. He eventually signed a three-year, $29.75 million pact with the Brewers.
Without Wolf’s veteran presence in the rotation and some regression by its other pitchers, Los Angeles has fallen from first in the NL in pitching in 2009 to eighth this season. That has made all the difference for the Dodgers, who are now firmly out of the postseason race heading into the final five weeks.
Wolf (10-9) has missed Los Angeles as well, struggling at times in his adjustment to the smaller ballparks of the NL Central.
At 4.67, Wolf’s ERA is over a run higher than it was last season, due in no small part to the 24 homers he has allowed. But just as he did last season, the veteran left-hander has turned it on in the second half, picking up the win in each of his last three outings and allowing two runs or less in four of his last five.
He is coming off one of his strongest starts of the season last week at St. Louis, when Wolf allowed one run on three hits in 8 1/3 innings while striking out four. Today will mark his first start of 2010 against the Dodgers, though he does own a 3-2 record with a 3.39 ERA against them in nine starts from 1999-2008.
Los Angeles took the series opener on Tuesday 5-3 behind newcomers Rod Barajas and Ted Lilly. Barajas hit a three-run blast in his first game in Dodger blue and Lilly pitched 6 1/3 strong innings to move to 5-0 since joining the club.
The Dodgers will send Hiroki Kuroda (8-11) to the mound today. The Japanese right-hander is 0-3 in his last five starts despite posting a 3.19 ERA over that span. He has been victimized by Los Angeles’ offense, which has managed 11 runs total in the five games.